Rams preparing for North Forsyth over Thanksgiving

Published: Tuesday, November 26, 2013 at 05:13 PM.

Havelock coach Jim Bob Bryant knows that nothing comes easy in the third round of the playoffs.

The Rams are scheduled to play the North Forsyth Vikings at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Havelock High.

“They play some tough 4A teams in the Winston-Salem area and Forsyth County, teams that are still in the playoffs,” Bryant said. “Their conference is tough, too, so they’re battle-tested. It should be a good game.”

Last week in the second round, North Forsyth (8-5) took a 59-20 victory over Jacksonville, a team Havelock (13-0) beat 42-0 on Oct. 4.

“It got our attention,” Bryant said of the score from last week. “That’s the most points they’ve scored all year, and Jacksonville’s got a pretty good defense.”

The Vikings average 30.5 points per game, and against Jacksonville, totaled 168 yards passing and 127 rushing.

“They scored on a couple of trick plays against Jacksonville, so we’ve got to be prepared for that,” Bryant said.

Havelock coach Jim Bob Bryant knows that nothing comes easy in the third round of the playoffs.

The Rams are scheduled to play the North Forsyth Vikings at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Havelock High.

“They play some tough 4A teams in the Winston-Salem area and Forsyth County, teams that are still in the playoffs,” Bryant said. “Their conference is tough, too, so they’re battle-tested. It should be a good game.”

Last week in the second round, North Forsyth (8-5) took a 59-20 victory over Jacksonville, a team Havelock (13-0) beat 42-0 on Oct. 4.

“It got our attention,” Bryant said of the score from last week. “That’s the most points they’ve scored all year, and Jacksonville’s got a pretty good defense.”

The Vikings average 30.5 points per game, and against Jacksonville, totaled 168 yards passing and 127 rushing.

“They scored on a couple of trick plays against Jacksonville, so we’ve got to be prepared for that,” Bryant said.

North Forsyth also came up with six turnovers against Jacksonville, three of which were returned for touchdowns.

“Defensively, they’re really fast and get to the ball really well,” Bryant said. “They create a lot of turnovers. It will be a big challenge for us.”

Havelock is coming off a 53-14 victory over Anson County in the second round, a game in which quarterback Travis Sabdo threw for four first-half touchdowns and completed all six of his pass attempts. Running back Derrell Scott added 131 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just 11 carries, and the Ram defense held the Bearcats to 167 total yards.

“Our kids know that you win a Friday night game Monday through Thursday at practice,” Bryant said. “We had a real good week of practice last week.”

The Rams are scheduled to practice at noon today after classes are dismissed and again at 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

“Our schedule will be kind of disrupted,” Bryant said. “I’m kind of obsessive-compulsive about schedules, but it’s always great to be practicing over Thanksgiving. If you’re practicing over Thanksgiving, it means you’ve had a successful season.”